


Crumbling Minds

by Pennate_Marauder



Category: Until Dawn
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-21
Updated: 2015-09-21
Packaged: 2018-04-22 17:48:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,208
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4844717
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pennate_Marauder/pseuds/Pennate_Marauder
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>His mind had once been a castle that sat proudly against the sea of his thoughts. Now the ocean was fighting against him and he was forced to stand by, unable to fight it, as his castle crumbled into the sea piece by piece.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Crumbling Minds

Their voices were everywhere. They ricocheted off of every wall he and his medication had painstakingly built up within his mind and sent it crumbling apart as easily as an angry ocean wave mutilates the face of a cliff. The relentless pounding against his deteriorating mental state sent reality blurring into his worst fears and nightmares in a way that made it impossible to decipher which gruesome horror was his reality and which one was just a twisted part of his mind showing its fangs to torment him. 

None of it was real. None of it was real. _None of it is real_.

The mantra repeated in his thoughts over and over as he watched the decaying corpses of his sisters rise from the floor, hissing his name with split-lipped grins on their rotten faces. 

Oh _god_ he'd killed them. They were dead and it was his fault. The lights of his life, the two people who understood him in their family, the little girls he'd protectively looked after--rather successfully, in fact, until the one night he drank himself to the point of unconsciousness. He'd woken up with the worst hangover in his life, but it was _nothing_ compared to Sam, who had been on the verge of shattering into a million pieces on the floor, telling him in a choked voice that Hannah and Beth had gone missing. 

_Sam._ Sam Sam Sam Sammy. She hated him now. He knew it was an unavoidable truth. He'd done horrible, horrible things and they would all hate him, but Sam...she'd never want to see his face again. He'd sent her on a chase and god above it had been _exhilarating_ to watch his little bird fly, but it was wrong and he should have never gone through with it. He had no one now. Chris would hate him just as much, if not more. He'd forced him to make choices that no person should ever have to make.

_I brought him and Ash together, though. It would've taken forever. I helped. I helped._

The nightmare unfolding before his eyes worsened. There was so much blood...so much blood. They were _dead_ and it was _his fault his fault his fault_. The skeletal head of a foreign creature ripped its way into the scene with fangs gnashing and silvery eyes twisting about, searching for him. A cry rose from his throat as he violently clapped his hands against the sides of his head. 

"You're not real! Not! Real!" 

All at once, the broken symphony of chaos reigning free within his mind came to a standstill. Moving slowly, as if controlled by puppet strings, he lifted his head and saw a bright figure through vision that was glazed with madness and fear. Slowly, the figure approached him, causing his nightmares to hiss and slide away into the darkest corners of the room, trying to avoid this angel that had placed her hand upon one of the cracked walls and held it together with such gentle ease. 

Recognition flooded him as he swayed slightly on the spot. _Sam._ "I trust you," he spoke, his voice raw and broken from his shouts and screams. "I trust you." 

He watched his little bird move toward him, her footsteps soft, as she raised her hands to his face. Her fingers hovered above his skin, achingly close, but never made contact. He knew better than to follow his instincts and fall into her arms. He knew she wasn't real, but she was the kindest image his mind had ever conjured. 

Her face leaned close until she was only inches away and all movement ceased, including his breathing, before a cruel expression suddenly crossed her features and she stepped away sharply. "You're a monster," she spat at him with complete, unadulterated _hatred_ in her eyes. The floodgate her presence had created against the nightmares broke with a loud _crack_ and sent him spiraling back down as her image disappeared and a sob strangled his throat, crushing the air within his lungs mercilessly. 

_Hated him hated him hated him._

Suddenly, he felt a blunt blow to his face. Stumbling back, he blinked rapidly as he was yanked forcefully out of his mind. Mike withdrew his hand, looking at him with a furrowed brow and a deep frown. 

"D-don't hit me p-p-please," Josh pleaded quietly, shying away from the bigger man with a visible wince. 

"Sorry, dude," Mike apologized shortly. "You were in a full mental jacket there." He shifted to one side, glancing to his left. 

Josh followed his glance and took another step backwards. _Sam._ He watched her with wary acceptance, waiting for the sharp, bitter words to pour from her mouth. 

"We came here to find you, Josh," she explained with warring emotions flickering across her face. _Fear. Pity. Determination._ Yet no trace of anger or hatred. Not like what he saw in Mike--what he felt in his punches. 

Josh shook his head slowly. "Y-you're not real." This was just another trick of his mind. Trying to rip his heart to shreds along with his sanity. 

"We're _real_ , Josh. We. Are. _Real_." 

When his expression didn't change, Sam reached forward unexpectedly as she stepped toward him, closing the gap he had made. Taking his wrist gently with one hand, she placed his hand over her heart and her free hand against his. "Feel that? I know the things you see don't have heartbeats, Josh. I'm real. Trust me." 

Her heart beat steadily within her chest while his thrummed quickly with both fear and relief. She was real. _She was real_. A ragged exhale left his lips as his hand trembled within her soft grip. "Sammy." 

She released her hold on him and moved to lowered her other hand. A sad smile lifted the corners of her mouth halfheartedly. "I'm here. I'm going to help you get out of here." 

Josh moved without really thinking. All of a sudden, his arms were wrapped around her petite frame and his head was buried against her neck and shoulder. She stiffened in his arms and he almost immediately corrected himself before her arms lifted hesitantly and she returned the gesture. 

"I'm sorry," he choked out. "Sorry so sorry. I didn't--I didn't mean to hurt you. Didn't mean to h-hurt _anyone_. They all hate me _y-you_ -"  
"I don't hate you," Sam interrupted him, causing him to lean back and look at her with wide, shocked eyes. "I don't hate you, Josh. God, you did a lot of fucked-up shit and you need help desperately, but I don't _hate_ you for it."

Mike cleared his throat, shifting on the spot with his arms folded across his chest. "We need to get going, Sam. Those fuckers will find us if we just sit around in here."

"Right," she agreed with a grave nod before turning to Josh. "Ready?"

Without speaking, he reached for her hand and took it before nodding. She looked at him with an unreadable expression before turning and leading the way out of the open space and back into the mines, a brilliant light that anchored him to reality and quieted his restless, maddened mind.

A merciful angel that was prepared to guide him through Hell.


End file.
